Netgear Lawsuit Against ASUS For Wireless Routers Not Dismissed

Posted by Nathan Kirsch| Tue, Dec 17, 2013 - 10:25 AM

We recently found out that Netgear is accusing ASUS of shipping two wireless routers that do not comply with FCC regulations. The products in question are the RT-N65U 802.11n wireless router and the RT-AC66U 802.11ac wireless router.

According to the Netgear lawsuit that was filed in July 2013, it appears that ASUS submitted Wi-Fi router results to the FCC for guideline testing that aren’t exactly the same as the ones that they are shipping on the market. Netgear claims that these and other ASUS routers deliver higher wireless output levels than the FCC allows, and that ASUS conspired with a third-party testing lab, QuieTek Corp., to submit false test results to the FCC. These are pretty big accusations and Netgear has filed both a complaint with the FCC and a lawsuit seeking damages and injunctive relief on grounds false advertising under federal and state law, unfair competition, tortious interference with prospective business relations, and violations of the Sherman Act.

Last Thursday, federal judge Susan Illston refused a request by ASUS to dismiss the suit. “Netgear can prove its claims by showing that defendants falsely advertised that their products met FCC standards, either by submitting falsified test results or by altering their wireless routers after testing,” Judge Illston wrote. “Proving these allegations does not risk undercutting the agency’s expert judgments and authority because plaintiff’s allegations do not implicate the FCC’s determinations or require the court to interpret ambiguous FCC regulations.”

We have reviewed the ASUS RT-AC66U 802.11ac wireless router, so we figured that we would let our readers know about what is going on. The case is Netgear Inc. v. ASUSTeK Computer Inc. et al., case number 3:13-cv-03405, in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California if you’d like to follow what is going on! VIA Technologies announced this morning that they would be suing ASUS for copyright infringement, so things are getting a bit messy for ASUS in the second half of 2013!

Art Faucett

Not surprised that “any” company would try this if it’s true. They all want an “edge” when the review sites get products for their reviews. It reminds me of car makers juicing their mpg figures to stand above the crowd.